Clubs, crowds and safety

Racing against the cold, wet falling snow, a group of mostly college students ran from their cars into a nightclub Wednesday for college night.

Soon, faster than could be counted, people coming from either side of the block were piling up along the steps of The Armory, eager for their night of fun to begin.

Flashing disco lights were seen through windows facing a full parking lot.

At least two of the club-goers Wednesday night, who had to park across the street, weren’t phased by the 117 people killed in two nightclub tragedies recently.

One University of Northern Colorado student walking through the parking lot said she wasn’t aware of the recent tragedies and never considered being in danger at the club. Another man agreed. He said

he’s never felt unsafe at a nightclub, regardless of the number of people inside.

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“The more people, the more fun,” he said.

The nonchalant attitude of these two students is not shared across the nation, where many club owners and patrons are paying special attention to safety issues, especially in regard to crowding. Two recent tragedies have club owners rechecking, and in some cases reworking, their fire policies.

In emergencies, the biggest problem is when people try to go out the same door they came in, said Dale Lyman, Union/Colony Fire Department spokesman.

“People need to be observant of secondary exits,” Lyman said.

And that is exactly what crowd safety expert Paul Wertheimer said people should be doing.

“Everyone should be aware of the exits. You should be aware of the closest ones,” said Wertheimer, owner of Crowd Management Strategies in Chicago. “Maybe it’s a good idea to make sure it’s unlocked and not blocked.”

Meanwhile, Lyman said his department has issued tickets to nightclubs in Greeley before – but not for fire code violations.

However, the department does get a lot of calls from club patrons concerned with crowding problems.

When they get these type of complaints, the fire department goes out immediately to make sure clubs aren’t in violation. Also, once a year nightclubs are inspected for blocked exits and crowd problems before they can renew their liquor license.

Club owners have the ultimate responsibility to enforce occupancy restrictions, Greeley building inspector Rod Constance said. Several clubs in Weld County refused to comment for this report.

Before a liquor-serving nightclub can open, they have to show city building inspectors plans of how they meet the various fire code regulations. In turn, the city tells the business what their maximum occupancy can be, but the business owner has to ensure no crowding problems exist, Constance said.

Generally, nightclubs have to have a minimum of two exits on different sides so that patrons have a choice of which one to use, Constance said.

Depending on the size of the a nightclub and its maximum occupancy, a sprinkler system and fire alarms may also be mandatory. A 5,000-foot club is required to have a sprinkler system. If a club can hold more than 300 people, it must have fire alarms.

A plan is important in case something does happen.

“If people feel a place is overcrowded they can call the fire department, and we’ll come check it out,” he said.